Lit The Future of Dark Horse Comics

I've no problems with artist switching. KOTOR did that and, but for the Vector arc, I was fine with it, as the story was always more important to me.

And with the long term future of any individual series still a lot greyer these days, I'd like them to pump out what they can before the axe falls and everything switch to Episode 7 tie ins.

 

It is quite possible to have artists of similar styles share the workload on a book, it hasn't been done successfully often but there are cases - Brubaker's Captain America run had Epting and Perkins on art, artists of similar yet distinct styles.

Like Coop, I'm a little wary of BC info but this stood out to me:

They don't often get it wrong, but looks like a rare error - bit like the Fear Agent Library Volume 1 print run that sold out in record time, hopefully they'll print more initially for the second volume. Incidentally, anyone who likes SW needs to give Fear Agent a try, it's Remender's best work by far with a real emotional punch at the finale.

Can't say I'm exactly enthused with more Vader series, but Ghost Prison was a great surprise hit. That Legacy and Star Wars get to the end of 2014 is great news as it's space enough for a decent arc for each.

 

That would make 4 years of Vader mini-series? Enough for a Hardback collection. I approve of that!

 

The quality of that would be highly variable though!

 

I've got no problem with Legacy switching artists. It was like that with Legacy v.1 and it worked great.

 

As far as move Vader series go, I just wish they'd do what Havac said in the TPB thread and do something different to just "HULKVADER SMASH!" all the time.

Just something as simple as a story about 'Admiral' Vader the the fleet commander, or even something where he teamed up with Tremayne, or even Mara Jade, or whatever, for something slightly different. Ghost Prison kinda did the later with Tohm, which I suspect is what made it so enjoyable, as it was different to just simply another "Vader hunts down latest target" story, whereas NinjaNinth Assassin (I still keep reading the word Ninja ) seems to have gone back to the more generic cliche again.

Edit: Well that was genius... I initially wrote NinjaNinja...

 

I like the sound of that more:

Darth Vader and the Ninth Ninja Assassin!

 

Francia would be great, just for the continuity. This is basically inevitable if they want it to remain an ongoing -- it's really hard to have an artist turn out twelve issues a year -- so I don't see a real problem, so long as the new artist is good and complementary in style.

 

Wouldn't we have to get Francia away from Mass Effect? I suppose we could reap him?

 

It's still a little early to tell about the ninth assassin mini series. It could end really cool...or it could be average at best. Wait and see is the best we can do.

 

So I just attended the Dark Horse panel at C2E2 today as a press member. Sadly, I was not on assignment to document the panel in detail, but direct questions regarding the current future of the license were asked, and I personally asked them about about whether or not Disney is aware of far future works like the New Legacy comic while they do Ep VII preparations.

Another audience member asked about the state of the license. The most important thing mentioned is that there is absolutely 'no' internal indication as of right now from Disney or anyone else that DH will actually lose it. None whatsoever. They will have it for the foreseeable future and are not being told otherwise. Is it possible that they'll lose it? Perhaps someday. But fears of this being an automatic fate are greatly exaggerated, with no actual indication that this will happen outside of speculation.

Their answer regarding Disney and the EU was pretty much the same thing they said when Legacy was first announced. Contradictions are possible, but no one is stopping them from proceeding ahead anyway and Legacy is so far down the line that they're not even worried about Episode VII impacting it. Of course, I don't think that says much of anything about the future fate of the post ROTJ EU, but at least they don't seem worried by it, so they'll keep going full steam ahead and deal with issues as they come.

Finally, at the end of the panel I approached the head editor, complimented him on the incredible job DH has done these past 22 years, and told him to do whatever needs to be done to ensure that Disney appreciates the mark they've made on this universe. He thanked me and assured me that they will do whatever can be done to ensure that things continue as they have been, and that he too wishes to ensure Disney sees the wisdom of keeping Dark Horse around. Again, to make it clear, so far there is nothing beyond speculation saying they will lose the license.

Admittedly, I don't have links for the panel at this time, but if/when video reports go up, hopefully you can hear the questions and their responses then.

 

Nothing groundbreaking about their answers, to be completely honest.

If your boss is planning to make you redundant, that doesn't mean you know about it, nor that you're not just going to keep doing your job to your utmost ability in the hopes you aren't made redundant, so everything people like DH or DR are saying is entirely to be expected and there won't be any grand revelations coming from any of their spokesmen.

 

Thanks for the news, HEDGESMFG.

If Disney didn't own Marvel, I would have an iota of hope for DH. But DH has nothing going for it right now, aside from its stellar history producing some of the best works in the EU. Unless they're magically bought by Disney and subsumed into that megaconglomerate, Dark Horse's future contributions to Star Wars is bleak.

 

You speak the truth.....and I'm not sure if I would even read SW if Marvel got their hands on it.

 

I do understand the pessimism or sense of inevitability a lot of people are feeling here. Given recent turns, it would make sense for one to think that way. Ownership changes can seriously mess up a lot for a franchise like this, and Clone Wars and Lucasarts are 2 very unexpected victims of the shakeup so far. (I talked to Ashley Eckstein today, more or that in a different thread)

Still, I do feel there's a bit of jumping the gun here. Stranger things have happened in the media world before. I didn't even get the slightest hint of hesitation about keeping the license this time, whereas at other events you can usually get a forboding sense that something is wrong. Perhaps it was that sincerity that I wish to convey more than anything. For Dark Horse, it will be business as usual for at least the next year and a half, and that is already longer than any of us expected. Worse comes to worse, I can even accept that as more than enough time for them to wrap up each of their current series.

I just want to emphasize that the future remains uncertain, in both the good and bad way. We have very little actual evidence pointing to whether or not they will or will 'not' keep the license. We just plain don't know, and that is just as much good as it is bad.

 

Thing is, we're talking about Marvel here. If it was just Disney alone, I wouldn't be worried one bit. But Marvel?

 

Ask Universal Studios how that turned out.

 

Yeah, I love Marvel and DC. I don't like to say I won't read Star Wars comics if Marvel takes over as a Star Wars fan who gobbles up the content thrown at me but sub-consciously I have that attitude. Marvel likes to milk their more popular franchises...

 

That is why, despite their statement, I still told them to do anything and everything possible to ensure they keep the license as long as possible. I don't see Marvel reproducing the same quality, period.

 

Dark Horse's Star Wars stories are some of the best comic book stories I've ever read. I'm a big Marvel and even a bit of a DC fanboy but Dark Horse has told stories that the EU outside of comics hasn't equaled...most of the time.